Yette's Garden Platter

Yette's Garden Platter

I recently picked up The Essential New York Times Cookbook, and it's turned out to be a great little anthology of our nation's food. It's great to read about how trends in food have shifted, and in some cases have seen a resurgence. I've cooked several dishes from the book, and I'll share them as we go along. First up, Yette's Garden Platter. Friday night I was looking for a simple meal that would use up potatoes and tomatoes. Lo and behold, this extremely simple little treat!

I'm going to type up the recipe here, and let you know when I did something differently from the printed recipe.

Assembly

Yette's Garden Platter

from The Essential NYT Cookbook

3 medium potatoes, sliced 1/4 inch thick 

3 medium zucchini, sliced 1/2 inch thick (really, just be sure the zucchini are thicker than your potatoes. No need to measure, but you don't want to end up with overdone zucchini)

4 tomatoes, peeled (I used heirlooms, I think any variety would do)
1/4 cup chopped flat leaf parsley (I used chopped fresh basil instead, just because the plant needed to be trimmed down)
1 clove garlic, chopped finely (I pressed mine)
3/4 cup olive oil (sounds like a lot, but it won't make the dish greasy at all)
2 medium onions, chopped
Salt and pepper

1) Heat oven to 350 degrees. Layer the potatoes and then the zucchini in a shallow baking dish. Combine the remaining ingredients, then add to the dish. (I just layered them on top, you could also stir it all up, but I liked how brown and soft the onions got).
2) Bake uncovered until vegetables are tender and well-browned on edges, about 1 1/2 hours.

I served mine on top of couscous. Once it's all baked, there's a tomato-scented oil on the bottom of the dish. I spooned it over the final dish. It ended up being a bright, spring-time dish, but not an especially photogenic one. I guess you can't have it all! It didn't keep in the fridge especially well, so I think I'll reserve it for bringing to get-togethers or serving to dinner guests.

Plated

**Side Note: Did anyone else watch the United States of Tara season premiere last night? I feel like I'm the only one I know who really watches that show, but I love it.